Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.5
—
Visakhapatnam, February 20, 1972,
At Ladies Club
Prahlāda Mahārāja said that children should be taught about religious principle, especially Bhāgavata dharma. What is dharma and Bhāgavata dharma? Bhāgavata dharma means the dharma of the soul, and ordinary dharma means the dharma of this body. Generally we understand the varṇāśrama-dharma, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā śṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ: [Bg. 4.13] the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas, the vaiśyas, and the śūdras, brahmacārī, gṛhasta, vānaprastha, and sannyāsa. So actually this is our..., Vedic principle is varṇāśrama-dharma. So this varṇāśrama-dharma is in relationship with this body. But we are not this body. Dehāntaraṁ prāp..., we are changing our body. So sometimes we may become a śūdra, sometimes we may become brāhmaṇa—that is change. But when you come to the platform of the soul, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20], that dharma, when it begins, the dharma of the soul, that is called bhāgavata-dharma, because when one is, uh...
I mean, in the platform, on the platform of understanding soul, that is called brahma-jñāna, ātmā-jñāna. So when one comes to the platform of brahma understanding, that is called brahma-bhūta [SB 4.30.20]. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā: [Bg. 18.54] when you come to that platform, understanding of the soul, then you become joyful, free from material anxiety. Just like you are on a ship and it is in danger on the ocean, tottering. At any moment you can drown. But somehow or other, if you come to the land, you feel safety, "Now I am safe." Similarly, this bodily consciousness—"I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am this," "I am that"—that is just on the tottering sea. But if you come immediately on the spiritual platform, then prasannātmā, "Now I am safe." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [Bg. 18.54]. To Brahman realized soul, he has no more any hankering, nor any lamentation. So long we are on the bodily platform, we are hankering and lamenting.
We are hankering for things which we do not possess, and we lament for things we lose. There are two business: to gain some material profit or lose it. This is bodily platform. But when you come to the spiritual platform, there is no more question of loss and profit. Equilibrium. So brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati, samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu [Bg. 18.54]. Because he has no more hankering and lamenting, there is no more enemy. Because, if there is enemy, then there is lamenting, but if there is no enemy, then samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg. 18.54]. That is the beginning of transcendental activities, bhakti.